Pump-rod suspension device



June 1 1,540,101

w. cHAPPuls PUMP ROD SUSPENSION DEVICE Filed'Aug. 27', 1924 IN VEN TOR. Murra- D- Curran ATTORNEY.

Patented June 2, 1925.

UNITED STATES WALTER nwran GHAPPUIS, or sANrA ANA, cALrron-NrA.

PUMP-ROD SUSPENSION DEVICE.

Application filed August 27, 1924. Serial No. 734,442.

To uZZ whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, VVALTnR Dwmn CHAP- rU'rs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Santa Ana, in the county of Orange and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Pump-Rod Suspension Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates more specifically to a device for automatically engaging and suspending within an oil well derrick, sections of well pump sucker rods as the sectional rod is withdrawn from the well.

It is a primary object of my invention to provide a simple rod suspension device consisting of a single casting and provided with flexible suspension means, whereby pump rod sections may be quickly and easily suspended from a supporting structure adjacent the pump as they are withdrawn from the pump, and may be readily removed from the device when the sections are replaced.

A furthen object is to provide a device consisting of a single casting, that requires no machining to render it marketable or usable, and which will securely hold rod sections in a suspended position until they are again required.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated a preferred eml'iodiment of my invention, itbeing understood however, that no limitation is necessarily made to the precise structural details therein exhibited, but various changes, alterations, and modifications may be resorted to within the scope of my invention when desired.

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the rod suspension device showing the upper end of a rod section engaged therein and the rod elevator in engagement therewith.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section vice taken on line 2-2 ofFig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a front view of the device showing the method of engaging a rod section.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the device with a rod section in place thereon.

In pumping oil from wells, and particularly where the pumps are located at great depths, sectional pump sucker rods are em ployed, each section being about thirty feet long, the sections being coupled together to form a rigidly unitary rod extending from the pump to the upper end of the well. When it is desired to remove the pump for repacking, or any other cause, the sucker rod is uncoupled at every third section as of the dethe same is withdrawn, and the sections are placedalong side of the well derrick or stacked in a convenient position within the derrick. Much valuable time is wasted in reassembling the rod sections when the pump is replaced within the well owing to stacked condition of the rod sections and the consequent diiiiculty of moving the same into a convenient position for coupling.

By means of my improved suspension de vice, as the rod sections are conveniently suspended within the derrick frame, they can be readily moved into position for reassembling with little or no difliculty.

Referring more particularly to the accompanying drawings, the improved rod suspension device preferably consists of a single metal casting 5, preferably consisting of a straight shank portion 6, having a cone shaped head 7 provided with a downwardly extending socket 8, enlarged at its lower end, and opening at its bottom into a boss 9 formed on the front wall of the shank, the socket providing a convenient means for readily attaching the wire suspension cable 10 thereto. In securing the suspending cable in the socket 8, its upper end is first inserted upwardly through the bottom of the socket S, the cable wires at its lower end are then unstranded and a Babbitt metal is poured into the enlarged lower portion of the socket 8 to securely fasten the cable to the head 7 of the rod suspension device. The free endof the cable (not shown) may be provided with a hook, or ring so that it may be readily secured to the framework of the derrick or other supporting means.

From the lower end of the straight shank portion 6 the body extends downwardly in the form of a pair of arms 11, 12, the upper portions 18 of each arm being segmental and forming a substantially circular opening, whose diameter is slightly greater than the diameter of the annular shoulder 14: formed adjacent the upper end of a puinp rod section in order to permit of its ready passage therethrough. The lower vertically disposed portions 15, 16, extend downnuirdly a short distance from the segmental portions 13 and in parallel relation, the width be tween the oppositely disposed surfaces of portions 15, 16, being slightly greater than the wrench hold 17 formed on the rod sections directly below the annular shoulder 14:. The lower ends of the vertical portions 15, 16, are turned outwardly a short distance at substantially right angles thereto as at 19, 20, to form a support for a rod section when suspended therein, the annular shoulder 14: resting thereon as clearly shown in the various figures of the drawing. The ends of portions 19, 20, areconnected by a rod retaining bar 21, designed to prevent an accidental disengagement of a rod section when suspended from the device.

The operation of the rod suspension device will be clearly apparent from the following. The rod suspension devices as heretofore noted are secured by means of flexible cables in the upper portion of the derrick framework, and at a height sufiicient to permit of the suspension of three sections of a pump rod (about 90 feet). A workman is stationed in the upper portion of the derrick to manipulate the suspension devices to secure the rod section thereto as the same are withdrawn from the well by means of the well known rod elevator 25, which engages the upper end of the rod 26 just below the annular shoulder 27 formed at the base of the squared wrench hold. The extreme upper end 28 of the rod is threaded for engagement with the threaded socketed end of another rod section (not shown). As the pump (not shown) is withdrawn from the well a stand of pump rods consisting of three sections, is uncoupled, the workman in the derrick top inserts the upper end of the stand through the circular opening formed in the rod suspension device, the device being turned from its vertical to a horizontal. position in the manner shown .in Fig. 3, until the annular shoulder 14: passes therethrough. The de vice is then returned to its normal vertical position, the annular shoulder 14: engaging the end portions 19, 20, and bar 21, thus detachably supporting the stand of pump rods in a suspended posit-ion within the derrick structure. The above operation is continued until all the rod sections are suspended in position.

\Vhen the pump has been repaired the workman again takes his place in the derrick and releases'the sections one after another troin the suspension devices as they are coupled together.

By the construction above described it will be obvious that it will be absolutely impossible to disconnect a rod section from a suspension device except by turning the device from its normal vertical suspended position to a horizontal one as shown in Fig. 3. This featureris considered highly essential, for should the rod sections become accidentally disengaged from the suspension devices fapairot segmental arms extending downwardly therefrom and forming a substantially circular opening, theends of said arms extending below the segmental portions disposed in parallel relation and spaced apart, the distance between the parallel portions being less than the distance between the segmental portions, whereby to permit the passage therethrough of circular flanges, the extreme ends of the arms extending outwardly from the parallel end portions and substantially at right angles thereto to form a rod supporting seat, and a cross bar connecting the ends of the right angled portions.

2. A device of the class described comprising a shank portion having a cable attaching means'lormed on its upper end, the lower end of the shank including a pair of downwardly extending arm portions, the upper portions being circularly formed to permit of the tree passage of annular rod flanges therethrough, said arms below the circular portions extending downwardly in parallel relation, the distance between the parallel arm portions being less than the diameter 01 the circular opening thereabove, the extreme ends being turned at substantially right angles to the parallel portions to form a rod supporting seat, and a cross bar connecting the extreme ends of the right angled portions.

In witness. that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 31st day of July, 1924.

\VALTER DW'IRE CHAPPUIS. 

